2012.02 Evaluation of Danida support to the education sector in Afghanistan

Over the last decade, Denmark has provided substantial development support to the reconstruction of Afghanistan, with the main purposes of contributing to national, regional and global security as well as to poverty reduction.

Total disbursement of Danish development support to Afghanistan over the period 2001-2012 amounts to approximately DKK 3.8 billion, and the support has mainly been concentrated within four thematic areas: (1) State-building, (2) Livelihoods, (3) Education, and (4) Regions of Origin Initiative (ROI) support. In Denmark, as well as in the donor community in general, there is a wish to learn from the experiences with different types of support to Afghanistan implemented through the last decade. Therefore, Eval has commissioned the execution of 2 evaluations and 1 evaluation study that together cover the four main thematic areas of Danish support to Afghanistan

The present evaluation covers the Danish support to the education sector in Afghanistan over the period 2003-10. Over this period, Denmark has disbursed approximately DKK 430 million in support to the education sector, including efforts in the Helmand province, mainly through bilateral education sector programmes. A relatively minor part of the funds have been given through other channels, e.g. through the Afghan Reconstruction Trust Fund (ARTF) and, especially in the early years, UN organisations. 

The evaluation includes an assessment of the strategy, implementation and results of the Danish support to the education sector during the mentioned period. Based on the assessment of the overall approach and the specific experiences of activities funded, the evaluation identifies conclusions, lessons learned and forward-looking recommendations for the continued support to and development of the education sector. In line with scope of support given, the main emphasis is on the bilateral support.

Evaluation results will contribute to the continued improvement of Danish support to the education sector in Afghanistan, and - to a more limited degree - to the continued learning in relation to sector support in “fragile” situations in general.

• Download Summary in Danish (PDF)
• View Evaluation Report (HTML) or order the publication
• Download Evaluation Report (PDF)

Download Annexes (PDF):

• Annex E: Education sector aid programmes and projects 1388 (2009) 
• Annex F: Donor assistance to education over the period covered by the evaluation 
• Annex G: List of feedback session participants in Kabul 
• Annex H: Case studies